Program Design

What’s the Buzz About Badges?

Author: Elyse Eidman-Aadahl & Sheryl Grant Summary: This video introduces a definition of badges and features a discussion of various badging systems. The facilitators also preview a series of webinars and learning opportunities about badges and début a new resource collection that shares lessons learned from dozens of badge design...

Joined at the Hip: The Joys and Travails of Teaching “Linked” Courses

Author: Matthew Teorey Summary: This article features one university’s program offering “Freshman Learning Communities” in which two instructors from different disciplines work together developing curriculum by coordinating two sets of complementary readings and assignments. In this cross-disciplinary approach, a community environment helps the students succeed in their freshman year. The...

What Does Teacher Leadership Look Like at Writing Project Sites? (NWP Radio)

Summary: This hour-long radio episode features several NWP sites whose TCs discuss their experiences as leaders of site programs, leadership teams, and professional development. This resource may be useful for individuals and groups who are exploring models of teacher leadership and ways to support emerging teacher leaders.

Strategic Planning for Program Development

Summary: This resource outlines a guided inquiry for NWP site leaders interested in designing a new or revitalizing an existing site program. It is designed to capture the process and thinking involved in determining site capacity and priorities and organizing a revenue-generating program at any local site. As a series,...

The Relationship of High School Student Motivation and Comments in Online Discussion Forums

Author: Chris Sloan Summary: Although online discussions have become more and more ubiquitous, there is a dearth of research that has looked at relationships between students’ commenting and motivation to learn. Course and program designers wishing to better structure discussions in online learning communities may be interested in mining this...

The Web as a Tool for Continuity

Authors: Evan Nichols, Carol Tateishi, Sonnet Farrell, Tom McKenna, and Sondra Porter Summary: How can we keep teachers connected to each other across time and space? This monograph illustrates how the web can be used effectively to facilitate continuity and follow-up opportunities at sites. Showcased are the Bay Area Writing...

Planning for Young Writers Camps

Summary: Many writing project sites count on young authors’ camps to reach out to the community and bring in revenue. This resource is a planning tool that illustrates how the Fox Valley Writing Project thought through the decisions involved in launching a summer youth camp. Those looking to expand, revise,...

The Birth and Death of Portfolio Assessment

Author: Pauline Sahakian Summary: Although this short article is ostensibly about portfolio assessment, the author warns that promising teaching practices will only endure in a school or professional community if mentors facilitate ongoing conversations about the hows, whens, and whys of practice. In other words, regular practices cannot be taken...

The View from a Rural Site

Author: Anne Dobie Summary: Site leaders working in rural areas, especially for the first time, will want to read this piece that frames what it means to be a rural teacher, including some of the challenges teachers face in this context and implications for writing project institutes. Visiting and living...

Writing Projects and School Reform: A Local Perspective

Author: Marcie Wolfe Summary: How can teachers’ voices be heard within the top-down forces of reform, and how can NWP avoid becoming a “recipe-based” school reform model? This article tells the story of New York City writing project leaders who supported teachers and administrators within a city initiative to phase...